WURtalks - Our living soil, Wednesday 27 September 2017

You might think of the soil as a dark and lifeless place. Gerlinde de Deyn and Jan Willem van Groenigen will explain that there is a diversity of life in the ground. In fact, it is even very important for your daily life. Find out how in this WURtalk.

What would the world look like without earthworms?

Everybody knows earthworms – they are almost everywhere and have been around for hundreds of millions of years. But what do they do in the soil? What would our world look like if earthworms had never evolved, or would suddenly go extinct? What would the implications be for agriculture, global warming, and for us humans? And why was Charles Darwin so interested in this humble species that he wrote a book about it? In this presentation I will answer some of these questions and will argue that the earthworm is probably the most important animal species ever evolved.

Soil or seed: which came first?

Plants are amazingly diverse in the functions they provide. Without them we would not have the oxygen to breath, food to eat, clothes to wear and timber to build. We would also not see the diversity of animals we see across the globe, as they all depend directly or indirectly on plants. But how do plants get growing in the first place? In this talk I will reveal the hidden half of plants and how the tiny organisms, that connect the world of the living and of the dead, rule the world.

Like to have dinner on campus?

What are WURtalks?

WURtalks are lecture evenings where gifted storytellers from Wageningen University & Research give inspiring lectures. The WURtalks are for all students and employees of WUR and other interested people. After the lecture you’re invited for a dialogue with the other visitors and scientists.